By:Bakinam Khaled
In line with the Egyptian government's directives to fostering and embracing innovative ideas of university students, PTS Investments Holdings Inc. has forged a strategic partnership with Borg El Arab Technological University. The primary goal of this collaboration is to launch a comprehensive digital platform that offers a range of services for technical and technology education students and graduates. Furthermore, the agreement entails the launch of the inaugural startup company through the specialized entrepreneurship studio “Kemtech Valley-BTU.” This initiative aims to support and promote research outcomes and graduation projects, while leveraging the expertise of the university's faculty and students. Ultimately, the goal is to transform these valuable resources into investment ventures, practical solutions, and industrial products that can be effectively marketed.
This partnership falls under the umbrella of the Supreme Council for Technological Education of the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, as part of the Egyptian Applied Technology Valley “Kemtech Valley.” PTS Investments Holdings Inc. has established a partnership with Venture Kemtix and COREangels MEA to introduce a digital platform. The endeavor has received significant funding of six figures, emphasizing its crucial contribution to entrepreneurship, startups, and its dedication to promoting innovation and supporting young entrepreneurs in Egypt.
The digital platform is the first-of-its-kind initiative implemented by technical universities, with the aim of providing an integrated range of services related to development, training, employment, and support for innovation and start-ups. These services are offered to both current students and graduates of technical technology education programs in Egypt and beyond. The platform's main focus is to establish a framework that facilitates collaboration between governmental educational institutions and the private sector in the field of applied technology education, which can be achieved through a centralized digital gateway. This gateway acts as a connection point, linking students and graduates from technology education institutions to various local and global job markets. It provides detailed information about available job opportunities worldwide, as well as specific skills and requirements for each role. As a result, graduates can take advantage of training and qualification programs that equip them with the necessary skills for the job market.
During this occasion, Eng. Maha Mandour, Group managing director for PTS holdings, highlighted that this partnership is a significant milestone in strengthening Egypt's educational and employment infrastructure. It reflects the positive impact of educational institutions and investment firms in the development of society and in nurturing the exceptional talents of Egyptian youth in the fields of training and employment. This is accomplished through the provision of free scholarships to valedictorians from technology universities for participation in the entrepreneurship fellowship program.
She added: “The students will be trained and mentored by industry and entrepreneurship experts, with the assistance of university professors, to develop initial models for innovative project ideas. By the end of the first phase, students will present their ideas to a specialized committee of experts and industry professionals. Some projects will be selected for sponsorship and support from the specialized entrepreneurship studios “Kemtech Valley.” She highlighted that the initiative has awarded scholarships to over a thousand students from different technology universities over a span of three years, and has incubated five innovative projects through the entrepreneurship studios with the aim of transforming them into start-ups with the sponsorship of private sector.
